Photo: Tom Courtney · CC BY-SA 2.0Bilsthorpe ranks below 95% of UK towns on households in flats: 2.7%
With households in terraced houses at 11%, Bilsthorpe is behind 86% of UK towns on that count. 27% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 73% of UK towns. There were 1,536 households in the town at the 2021 Census, home to 3,490 residents. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 96% of the total.
What the Census says about Bilsthorpe’s people
Many carers
457 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 14% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Bilsthorpe is older than 66% of UK towns: a median age of 46.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 8.7% of residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24: 10% of the total.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bilsthorpe, 46.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 64% of UK towns: 4.5%
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in nearly a quarter of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 34% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 8.9% in Bilsthorpe. Across England’s towns, full-time students come to 7.9%.
In Bilsthorpe, 26% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 66% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Nottinghamshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Bilsthorpe comes in at 2%. Measured more widely, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. The average household has 2.3 people.
Only 14% of households have no car or van in Bilsthorpe
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
The figure for households in detached houses is 32% in Bilsthorpe and 21% across England’s towns. As a reference point, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Bilsthorpe sits below 89% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (3.1%)
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). Residents whose main language is English are more common here than in 83% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 18%. 15% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 63% of UK towns: 43%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 96% of Bilsthorpe · Nottinghamshire’s towns 79% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Indian (0.3%). Across England’s towns, 37% of residents said they have no religion. Where 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns, Bilsthorpe has 50%.
Bilsthorpe: 14% of residents give unpaid care, above 99% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
For 154 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. The usual figure: 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, against 47% in Bilsthorpe.
21% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Bilsthorpe, 21% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 24% have no qualification at all (18%).
Among 749 UK towns of 2,500 to 5,000 people, the 368th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.6 in Milford on Sea. Nearest to Bilsthorpe in age: Fishbourne (46.5), Sutton-in-Craven (46.6), Long Buckby (46.6) and Glemsford (46.6).
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Bilsthorpe
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilsthorpe | 3,490 | — | 46.6 | 21% | 26% |
| Farnsfield | 3,217 | 2.5 mi | 48.9 | 28% | 28% |
| Rainworth | 7,990 | 3.7 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 28% |
| Edwinstowe | 5,327 | 3.9 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 23% |
| Blidworth | 4,295 | 4.3 mi | 43.1 | 19% | 28% |
| New Ollerton and Ollerton | 10,870 | 4.7 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 26% |
| Forest Town | 19,015 | 4.8 mi | 40.2 | 17% | 31% |
| Southwell | 7,405 | 5.2 mi | 50.4 | 30% | 23% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Nottinghamshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Nottinghamshire (or England), summed the same way as Bilsthorpe’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Bilsthorpe’s residents
What is the population of Bilsthorpe?
The 2021 Census counted 3,490 people in Bilsthorpe’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bilsthorpe?
The median age was 46.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 66% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bilsthorpe?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 79% across Nottinghamshire’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bilsthorpe?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Bilsthorpe good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bilsthorpe’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.